Street Trades, Then and Now

My work requires me to commute into Manhattan every day. In this travel and in my walking around New York, I see people working on the street. They sell food, sell newspapers, construct our buildings and streets, deliver our mail and packages, entertain us, and clean up after us.
Atget made a series of photographs of people working on the streets of Paris from about 1898-1900, the “petits métiers” or little trades. I was touched by these images. I started to photograph the people working at these “street trades” in New York City.
Later, I discovered John Thomson’s photographs of street trades in London in the 1800’s in his book, Victorian London Street Life. And Jacob Riis had some similar photographs taken in New York in his 19th century book, How the Other Half Lives. August Sander carried out his monumental project, People of the 20th Century, in the 1920s and Irving Penn made a series of studio portraits of workers in London, Paris, and New York in 1950-1951 published in the his book, Small Trades.
One of Atget’s motivations in photographing the petits métiers was to document their existence since he thought they were going to disappear. While some of the specific trades have gone, many people still make their living out of doors on the street. With some variation in their specifics, street trades exist all over the world. Yet in their ubiquity, we take them for granted. We pass by without noticing the human beings doing this work.
My photographs of people with street trades in 21st century paired with pictures of earlier workers 100 years ago show that, while the trades may differ from those of the 19th Century, street trades still exist. These people are working occupations we need or want. They are doing what they are able to do. For some of these people, the work is the career they desire. For others, it is the first step on the economic ladder. They have their self-respect. They have earned our notice.
My full edited archive of my street trades photographs is in the Street Trades gallery in this web site.
A book of these and more photographs, both old and new is at blurb: http://blur.by/1bKfa0b
I would welcome any comments about these pictures.